Recently uncovered in the Evening Record from 1912:
This attractive residence is located on Dougall avenue, and is the home of Mr. Geo. H. Wilkinson. The exterior walls are of brick and brown shingles. The first floor contains a living room, 23×12 feet, dining room, vestibule, hall with a coat closet and an (sic) open stairs, and kitchen. On the second floor are three large chambers with closets, a linen closet, and a bath room. The first floor is finished in oak with hardwood floors. The living room has panelled (sic) walls and beamed ceiling. Hot water system is used for the heating. Leybourne & Whitney are the architects.
George Wilkinson was the proprietor of Wilkinson’s Shoes on Ouellette Ave. A longtime downtown business. Some of the older readers of this site might remember the business.
So I tracked the house though the city directories to being located at what is today, 1319 Dougall Ave. I hopped in my ride to go see how it’s fared after 97 years…
She’s long gone. Surprisingly, because in that area of town (Dougall & Montrose – just south of Gilles) is fairly original. Judging from the houses now on the site (one of about 4 identical side by sides), it’s hasn’t been gone too long, or at least the land was vacant not too long ago.
Anyone live near here, or know what the scoop is with these houses?
I don’t have a scoop but in my typical cynical fashion people in Windsor land and build the cheapest houses they can without regard to the surrounding architecture. I guess that’s progress Windsor style.
It is interesting to note that Mr. Wilkinson’s house (cape cod style) is very similar to those in the region just south of Tecumseh W between Church and Bruce.
Regard for their surroundings? For that to happen we would have to have people with common sense. Those that build, and those that approve the buildings.
Sadly both have brains the size of a gnat.
The developers are too greedy. They want cheap and quick.
The city is too inept to create zoning restrictions requiring houses to blend in. If they did have the sense to try and make this city a better place, then these houses along with stucco on anything but new construction would be banned.
A perfect example of Windsor’s shitty toothless zoning laws can be seen here:
http://internationalmetropolis.com/?p=1063
and here too…
http://internationalmetropolis.com/?p=2492
Well, at least it’s not a raised ranch!! I continue my distaste for that design and don’t understand why it is so popular, other than to give the illusion of more space and privacy be elevating the main floor. I am not a fan of split levels.
I think in the past people believed (rightly or wrongly) that they would live in a house for many years. Because of the auto industry that was largely possible. However, many people are transient, following their careers which take them from place to place. As a result, attachment to a single house or an area is diminished. A home simply becomes a place to live for a while, so above all, it must be market-friendly. Some arch. designs are very interesting but polarizing. Many people choose safe designs, which create acres of similar houses, unfortunately.
It appears that someone acquired the property and decided a better use was a duplex, either for rental or sale. At least it has a nice big driveway.
Nice Dutch Colonial architecture.
Anybody remeber the slogan painted on the side of the brick Ouellette Avenue building which housed the shoe store? Beside the picture of a pig, it said “Wilkinson’s shoes wear like a pig’s nose.”
oh it was a beautiful home sitting on a large piece of property. We lived at 1350 Dougall until 10 years ago. The house was empty after Mrs Wilkinson was moved to a nursing home perhaps 30 years back and has since died. No byers came forward and eventually an out of country firm purchased the very large piece of property that still housed a garage and servants quarters as well as the house. It was a sad day when the buildings including the house were torn down. The new owners wanted to build a high rise. The neighbourhood successfully fought that fight with the help of a lawyer – whose name escapes me – but he lived next door to the Wilkinson house, north side – as it meant changing the area status from residential. While all this was happening the neighbourhood children had an empty lot to play in and the squirrels claimed the trees as their own. About 15 years back constuction of the side by sides happened using the entire lot so you can appreciate how large the lot was.
Perhaps with your research ability Andrew you can find the history of all this in the city’s archives, as I likely don’t recall the whole sad tale.
Actually I believe the side by side homes now on the Wilkinson lot were built in 1998 or 1999.
Also I seem to recall that the house was rented to a family after Mrs. Wilkinson went to the nursing home.
Wish I could recall more, and wish I had pictures.
My recollection of the Colonel Wilkinson house is that it was much grander than the Dutch colonial pictured. Can’t prove it but it was the mansion on the hill well treed and on a supersized piece of property. There are two very nice old houses immediately north of the property worth a look see.
It was a beautiful piece of property to be sure. The posted photograph of the current occupant is one of the ugliest things that I’ve ever seen. Uglier even than shit brown stucco. Houses as meek appendages to the almighty garage…..a sad commentary on the current state of affairs. Nice big driveway? Please….don’t make me puke.
Even from the illustration the house looks like it would have been beautiful. Certainly not deserving of what’s in its place. They may not be raised ranch, but I still think they are ugly. Like JB, I’ve never understood the attraction to this style. How welcoming is a garage? You don’t even see the front door from the street. Not very friendly to me. Maybe its because of the perception of getting more space for the money that makes it so popular. Or because newer construction leads people to believe less maintenance would be involved. That is until they move in and find that quality craftsmanship is not what it used to be.
Thanks for the post, Andrew.
I grew up on Church St right behind this property. It was vacant from the time I was born in 1975 until I moved away for college in the late 90s. The only things remaining of the old house were two brick pillars facing Dougall Ave. and the concrete floor of the garage. Plus a few interesting depressions in the ground scattered here and there. Oddly, the property extended to the other side of the alley between Church and Dougall, meaning no one on Church St. had any access to the alley, which was about 25 feet from the fence line.
I too am surprised by the house depicted. From what my parents told me, the house was rather large and had a garage with servants’ quarters attached. It was similar in style and size to the big white house that is just north of the property.
I also know that there was a proposal, either from the neighborhood or the city, to make it part of Mitchell Park which was linked to it by the alley. Guess that never happened which is too bad considering how many huge oak and elm trees had grown there.
Interesting… The house above dates to 1912. It is possible that they built a new house on the property in later years. After all the shoe store on Ouellette moved into larger quarters in 1930.
I lived on Clinton just around the corner in 1953. If I’m not mistaken, I seem to remember an old inground pool on the property and being warned by my parents to stay away because of it. There were quite a few grand old chestnut trees in the area. I’ll have to go for a walk and see if any are left.
I am George Wilkinson…..hahahaha
Ok on a serious note this was the original house which had a study addition on the left side of the house, a greenhouse on the back and a large pond in the back yard with fish in it not a swimming pool.
This was my grandmothers house.
Hi
I lived at 1366 Dougall for 20 years – 59/79. I remember the house as a lot larger than the one pictured, but I may be wrong. There was a dirt alley that ran off of Clinton to Giles Blvd. We kids used it to get to Mitchell park…..which origianaly had Church Street still running through it…or if we were feeling brave, ran through the northernmost part of the property, which was quite a bit lower, and a good distance from the main house. I recall chicken coops as well out back. The property was indeed massive, and when the house came down, it seemed that more kids played there than at the park. I know that all the boys with bikes were there a lot, cause we made hills, ramps etc to jump over. There is another house three door down to the south that I have always been interested in. It looks real old. It is a small white frame house that I am sure is one of the true originals from the area, as it looks like a farmhouse, and for Windsors earliset times, the world ended at Giles. If i remember corretcly, the house, everyone called it the mansion, came down in the late 60’s.